Relatively recently, a line of seating-type furniture such as chairs, ottomans, loveseats and sofas has been developed which is characterized by clean, simple lines, user comfort, strength and durability and relatively low cost. Basically, each such article of furniture includes upright side members which support a fabric seat which is contoured to match the human anatomy. The seat fabric is stretched as a cover across a tubular frame whose opposite sides fit in grooves formed in counterfacing surfaces of the upright side members so that the grooves capture the seat when the side members are properly spaced by spacer members. Examples of such furniture are disclosed in my patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,589, as well as in my copending application Ser. No. 570,955, filed Jan. 16, 1984, entitled Design for SEAT.
The flexible fabric seat is thus suspended between the side members providing a comfortable seating area that has no obstructing supporting members to prevent the fabric seat from assuming the contour of the person sitting in the chair or other article of furniture.
As described in the aforesaid patent, in chairs and other similar furniture articles constructed in this fashion, there is a tendency for the seat to pull out of the supporting grooves in the side members due to the weight of a person sitting in the chair. More particularly, the downward force on the seat cover causes the cover to pull the sides of the seat frame inward toward one another so that in some cases those sides are actually pulled out of their supporting grooves. To alleviate this problem, the seat or frame cover is shaped in such a way that the cover obtains its support from the upper and lower ends of the frame. In other words, as disclosed in the above patent, an added amount of slack is provided to the frame cover in the area where the sitter's weight is normally concentrated and where the frame is supported by the side members. That extra slack tends to minimize the lateral forces exerted by the cover on the sides of the frame due to the sitter's weight and to transfer those forces to the opposite ends of the frame which are not supported by the side members. While that solution does solve the problem of seat pullout, the slack present in the seat cover causes the seat to sag somewhat, thus spoiling to some extent the appearance of the chair.